Trip to Florida....oil change??

[wifes rogue]

So, Im at 2,000kms now, and Im planing on taking a drive to St. Pete's Florida at the end of September. Now the trip itself is going to be about 2,000kms each way. Thats going to put me at 6,000kms and time for the first oil change. But I still have a month to go, should I change it down south when I get there (when Im at about 4,500kms or so), or wait till I get back knowing I'm going to be over 6,000kms?Any rogue owners from the St.Pete's area?Wifes Rogue

[bill875]

If you have not changed your oil yet, then yes, I would change it before you leave for Florida.

I change the oil on any new vehicle before reaching 1,500 miles on the odometer. When an engine is new, there will initially be small fragments of metal from the engine that end up in the oil. You don't want this to circulate for too long as it can cause excessive wear. I willthen change the oil again before I hit the standard 3,000 mile interval. I switched to Mobil 1 (Synthetic) and now go 5,000 mile intervals.

Have a safe trip to Florida

[philipa_240sx]

IMHO, I would change the oil about a week prior to your trip to save the headache of doing an oil change during your trip. I mentioned a week, because as a rule I never put off maintenance to the day before a trip. Even something as simple as an oil change can go wrong (been there a couple of times), and ruin the start of a trip.

Also, fortunately you are past the critical break in period so long trips are OK. I would not be surprised if you see a bump in fuel economy when you return. Typically 6000-8000km on the odometer is when fuel economy starts to improve.